Monday, December 15, 2008

Mmm...

So one of the great things about being home (aside from the obvious top two reasons -- spending time with family and getting to do more knitting) is getting to eat Mom's cooking. Dining hall food leaves a lot to be desired, and right before I come home I start making lists of different favorite dishes I want during break. Mom's been making some delicious things since I've been home, and I've also been trying my hand out more in the kitchen -- good life skill to learn how to chop, bake, etc. Every now and then, I think to snap a picture. So in lieu of knitting updates (and knitting definitely has been getting done, but no photos yet ... that's coming soon), here's a sampling of some of my favorite food since I've been home. And at the end of the post, my first recipe!
Popovers. We use a King Arthur mix, which is really great. We discovered popovers when were college hunting for me, had to mail order a popover pan, and have been making them ever since. We like them best with almond butter.

Thanksgiving stuffing. Mom makes up a different stuffing recipe every year. They are all delicious, but this year was one of the best. Featuring dry cranberries and shiitake mushrooms.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup with spinach-cranberry-walnut-feta salad. Both were simply delicious.

Homemade salsa. This is one of the things I miss most at home. Salsa from a jar just doestn' compare. I love the fresh cilantro!

This is the banana bread last night. I looked at some different recipes, then un-vented. I was pretty proud of this ... I've never made up a recipe before. And it's already half eaten, so it seemed it went over well! And it's not super high in fat -- only two tablespoons of butter in the whole recipe! So I've included my first recipe if you want to try it out.

Katherine's Un-vented Banana Bread
1 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 smashed bananas
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
2 TBSPs melted butter
2 TBSPs hot water
chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all the dry ingredients -- I used 1 c. wheat and white flour, but you could just use white if you're not into the whole wheat-y thing. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk, butter and hot water and mix. Pour the wet mixture and bananas into the dry mixture and mix just until everything's incorporated. Fold in walnuts if using -- and I would recommend you do! I couldn't, because my sister doesn't eat walnuts, but I think it would have been so yummy with them. Pour in a loaf pan and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes -- knife inserted near the middle should come out clean. Let cool and enjoy!

What's on the stove for tonight?
Mmmm .... better get cooking!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Gretel'd

Over the summer, in one of our many yarn buying bouts, I ordered some yarn to make Ysolda's Gretel. Finally, at the end of this term, I got around to casting it on. I started the project during my finals period which was actually a huge mistake -- all I wanted to do was knit on Gretel, not study. Once I got home, I finished it up. Sadly, it's my only completed project from the term. There was a mitten disaster, the completion of one sock, and one evening of half-hearted work on the vest. Clearly, one of my New Year's resolutions should be to knit more at school. But without further ado, here are the specs of my tweedy Gretel.

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague (and on ravelry)
Size: Regular Tam
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed in 09
Needles: Addis in sizes 6 (for ribbing) and 8 and Knit Picks Options in the same sizes for the smaller bits
Start date: 21 Nov 2008
Finish Date: 27 Nov 2008

I loved loved loved this yarn. I wish I had enough extra cash to buy enough of it for a sweater -- but that probably won't be happening anytime soon. It was really a pleasure to work with. I also thought the pattern was extremely clear. It was my first time knitting from a Ysolda pattern, but there are sooo many things of hers I want to make. Slouchy hats in general are just so fun to make (which I guess is why they're popping up everywhere), and even though I'm not sure if they look the best with shorter hair, I still think this hat is adorable and hopefully will get lots of wear out of it back in MN.

Gift knitting and further work on mitts happening this evening. Hopefully will have some more finished objects soon!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting ...

So, some terms I'm better than others at keeping up with the blog than others, and this past one was obviously not one of them. It was a crazy term, and sadly, I got (of course) less knitting done than I anticipated.

But now I'm back at home until New Years, and Mom and I have been casting on non-stop. I have a serious cast on problem ... I love the excitement of the new project. So though I have at least one finished item to show off, and I know Mom has a few, for today, we'll just show off two new projects.

These are going to be little fingerless mitts (the cuff is worked flat then joined in the round -- this picture is from the day before yesterday, and we are now both done with the cuff). We're using this Daisy Mitts pattern and the called for Madelinetosh yarn in Bark and Ginsing (spelled all funnily). Can I take a moment to gush about the yarn? It is so so soft. And though when we were winding it up, there were quite a few knots/imperfections, the beauty of the colors and the softness of the yarn make up for it. We've had the yarn and pattern for awhile, and the urge to cast on struck Sunday night because, as we were working on our other newly begun project, our hands were freezing so we decided something had to be done.


Which brings me to our next project ... after I saw this a few months ago, I just could not stop thinking about it. I loved the garter, the noro ... and even though I don't wear kerchiefs, thought that it would be a very cute addition to my wardrobe. Right before I came home, Mom ordered the Noro Silk Garden sock as a little present to have when I came home, and we've both gotten a pretty good start on them. I don't know how big we'll make them ... I keep wanting to get to the next color in the Noro, so it may end up a bit bigger than the original. That's mine on the left, and Mom's on the right.

So after a long hiatus, knit two tog should be (hopefully) fairly active over the next month or so. We've got tons of knitting plans for my break (a box full of Peace Fleece arrived yesterday, and we are just waiting to get our hands on a copy of Knit.1 to make this sweater) so hopefully they'll be lots more to come. Stay tuned!